Date set for LPG-fueled buses, taxis

By Zhan Lisheng (China Daily) Updated: 2007-07-06 06:49

GUANGZHOU: All buses and taxis will be LPG-fueled in this southern city by
2010.

"Guangzhou will host the 2010 Asian Games, promoting clean energy for public
vehicles is part of the city's strategy to improve the environment and to usher
in the grand sports event," Xian Weixiong, director of Guangzhou communications
commission, said.

He said 85 percent of the city's buses and taxis, 6,500 and 16,000
respectively, have already converted to LPG. The city now has the most
LPG-fueled vehicles in the world.

When the conversion is completed, it will cut Guangzhou's annual diesel and
gasoline consumption by 471,000 tons. Consumption is 2.50 million tons at
present.

The city will also continue to find technological ways to lowering the LPG
consumption of public vehicles, Xian said.

Guangzhou's target of LPG consumption per 100 km is 62 liters for buses and
12 liters for taxis by the year 2010.

Statistics show the city's buses used 65 liters of LPG per 100 km last year,
compared to 83 liters in 2003. Taxis used 13.2 liters of LPG per 100 km compared
to 16.6 liters for the same period.

Total LPG consumption for buses last year was 29.21 million liters less than
2005, a saving of 100 million yuan ($13.16 million).

"Extensive use of clean energy such as LPG and efforts to lower energy
consumption for public vehicles can only be beneficial to the population and the
city," Yang Weiqiang, an environmental protection researcher with the Guangzhou
Academy of Social Sciences, said.

Yang said Guangzhou will be able to cut the emission of carbon monoxide by
22,000 tons; hydrocarbon, 2,430 tons; nitrogen oxides, 1,779 tons; and
particulate matters, 417 tons, when all its buses and taxis become LPG-fueled.